In just a couple of months, Rosensweig has made substantial changes in the look and feel of the Greenacres campus, which draws students from west of Boynton Beach, and serves students from thoughout the county in its magnet programs.

Her supervisors, staff members and students all say the same thing: John I. Leonard High is better for her presence.

``Classy,'' is how South Area Executive Director Elizabeth Decker describes Rosensweig, the former principal of Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Boynton Beach, and the first female to run John I. Leonard High, one of the largest schools in the district with about 2,700 students.

``Nora is a take-charge person. She has an achievement orientation,'' Decker said. ``She demonstrates lots of energy and enthusiasm. One of her trademarks is her hands-on approach. She walks the talk.''

Among the major improvements Rosensweig has made at John I. Leonard High:

* She made school cleanliness top priority.

First, she ordered several bathrooms open that had been closed and used for storage. Then she ordered all bathrooms regularly cleaned and stocked. She increased the number of garbage cans on campus. She replaced vandalized doors. She even showed the janitorial staff how she wanted the cafeteria floors mopped.

Then she encouraged the students to help keep the campus clean. It made a difference not only in how the campus looked, but how the students felt.

``Mrs. Rosensweig has already improved the school,'' said Lisa Densmore, a sophomore. ``She's replaced [vandalized) doors and damaged lockers. She put new garbage cans around [campus).''

``We've got all this new landscaping and things,'' said Kari Cox of Lake Worth, an 11th-grader. ``It's really good.''

* She improved the school's planning.

As soon as she arrived, she instituted regular weekly staff meetings to discuss problems, measure progress and make adjustments.

Among the outcomes: Rosensweig asked her teachers to increase their telephone calls to parents and their visits with parents.

``I tell teachers to find something good the kid is doing and tell the parents that,'' Rosensweig said. ``Capitalize on success.''

* She cut the ``down time'' in classrooms.

When she arrived, one of the first things she noticed was that when teachers left campus for workshops or seminars, they simply signed out. They didn't check in with an administrator or help make sure their classes were covered.

Now, teachers must fill out a form, explain where they want to go and what they want to do, and then get it approved by an administrator.

* She is more visible and accessible on campus.

Sometimes, she'll just wander around the school, talking to students, sitting in on classes, attending activities.

The students notice and appreciate her interest.

``She even came to the football banquet,'' said Bene Balli, of Palm Springs, a 12th-grader. ``Her predecessor wasn't around that much.''

Rosensweig declines to draw comparisons with former Principal Hugh Brady. Instead, she emphasizes her management style.

``If I'm not out there making contact with the kids,'' she said, ``I don't have a pulse'' on the school.

Members of Rosensweig's staff said they notice and appreciate the changes and her work.

Assistant Principal Pat Konttinen calls her new boss ``a creative problem solver who looks at the positive side of everything.''

Even Konttinen's daughter, Carissa, 12, is a Rosensweig fan.

Rosensweig was Carissa's principal at Citrus Cove Elementary School in Boynton Beach, then at Christa McAuliffe.

``She's really cool,'' Carissa said. She and her classmates especially liked how Rosensweig trusted them and rewarded them.

``She gave us a lot of field trips to the Kravis,'' Carissa said, referring to the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, which sponsors a variety of fine arts programs for students.

Rosensweig said she has always put the focus on her students. That's why she still regrets one of her career moves.

Between her principalships at Christa McAuliffe and John I. Leonard, Rosensweig served as executive assistant to then-Superintendent Monica Uhlhorn.

Rosensweig recalled confiding to her husband, Larry, how much she hated the office politics.

``During the first three weeks in that job, no one ever mentioned the word `children' once,'' she said.

After a year of enduring the bureaucratic atmosphere, she decided to return to her first love: running a school.

She came back with more energy and purpose, she said, than she ever had before.

``I want high quality instruction for kids,'' she said. ``There's no reason for kids to be sitting idle. There's no reason for kids to be bored. Students need to be challenged [in class), and recognized for their achievements.''